Conceptualised by Medulla Communications, this film takes palliative care further by getting people who terminally ill together, for a session of stand-up comedy.

The patients performed the comedy in Mumbai and were watched by family members and doctors. Through the performance, the patients urged people to #LaughAtDeath. Patients were selected from hundreds of terminally ill patients that IAPC members and trained by stand-up comedians – Kunal Kamra, Kashyap, Vinay Sharma, Punit Pania, Shriram R and Anand Reghu.

Mary Ann Muckaden, president, IAPC, said, “We are looking forward to increase access to palliative care in India with Medulla – right now only 3 per cent of cancer patients get even simple pain relief. Hopefully, this campaign will change that. A big thank you to the patients for sharing their stories, the comedians who trained them, film-maker Rahul Sengupta for capturing their performances, the venue and media partners who supported us in creating awareness.”

Amit Akali, CCO, Medulla Communications, said, “This was the most difficult (almost impossible) project of our lives. Made easy and possible by the patients, eager to share their stories and make the most of their last days. They moved us with their courage and floored us with their live performances, some of them taking a stage for the first time in 85 years! They opened their lives to the stand-up comics and rehearsed hard for days.”

Mihir Chitre, creative group head, Medulla Communications, said, “The most rewarding part of this campaign has been interacting with the terminally ill patients. I think they’ve changed the way I look at life.”

Praful Akali, founder and MD, Medulla Communications, added, “This is not just a campaign but an ongoing project and platform for terminally ill patients to share their stories and spread awareness on Palliative care. Love it because it brings alive the power of palliative care in a real way. It is about the strongest demo campaign you’ll ever see.”